This invention relates to a new and improved needle for dispensing flexible fasteners of a type designed to be inserted through an object for tagging or for joining two objects together. Such fasteners, together with apparatus for applying them, have gained wide public acceptance in industrial and consumer applications, e.g. for the attachment or recoupling of buttons to garments, for ticket tagging in retail establishments, for the pairing of related items such as shoes and socks, and in industrial applications for the temporary or permanent joining of materials. They are shown in numerous references, including among others, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,103,666; 3,399,432; 3,380,122; 3,444,597; 3,457,589; 3,470,834; 3,659,769; 3,733,657; 3,759,435; 3,875,648; 3,893,612; and 3,895,753.
As shown in the above cited references, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference, the flexible fasteners are usually of integral plastic construction and comprise a thin flexible filament having a retaining cross-bar or end-bar at one end and an enlarged head at the other end which can be of any desired configuration, for example an enlarged flat area (U.S. Pat. No. 3,103,666), an enlarged head for association with an opening in a button (U.S. Pat. No. 3,399,432), or a second cross-bar or end-bar (U.S. Pat. No. 3,875,648). Individual attachments may be joined together to form assemblies, clips, magazines, or extended rolls from which single fasteners are detached by severing or cutting as needed. The filaments may be stretched to reduce their cross-section and increase their strength, and may be tapered or provided with a narrowed section adjacent the first cross-bar to facilitate initial preferential stretching at that portion of the filament.
As also shown in the foregoing references, the fastener is inserted through the article or material to be joined or identified by the use of a hollow needle. The needle is normally mounted in a tool and comprises a point at one end for penetrating the material, a central bore extending therethrough for slidably receiving the cross-bar, and a longitudinal slot communicating with the bore from which the fastener filament projects. In use, the needle is pushed through the material or articles to be joined or tagged, the cross-bar or end-bar of the fastener pushed through the bore of the needle with the filament extending through the slot thereof, until the cross-bar is ejected from the needle on the other side of the material. During penetration of the material, the filament is bent approximately parallel with the axis of the cross-bar until the latter is ejected from the needle. The cross bar then adopts its normal transverse position relative to the filament, thereby forming a retainer preventing the fastener from being withdrawn. For such retention, the cross-bar is normally disposed at approximately right angles to the filament, but may form any other transverse angle sufficient to prevent removal of the filament through the material.